Fro-yo girl here. I haven’t been to the Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles in about a year and I missed the fact that Pinkberry closed in late January 2018. Sad. The Original Farmers Market has changed so much lately, though a few oldies are still there. Bob’s Coffee and Doughnuts better not close. Gill’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor, which had frozen yogurt, closed last year after 80 years at the market. It’s been replaced with a new ice cream shop called Local Ice. They had a soft serve machine but it was being used for soft serve ice cream.
The area where Pinkberry was is hidden by a tent or something. That section is being remodeled. The new Grocers’ Gateway section will open this fall with “exciting artisan grocery merchants and a fresh yet retro exterior look." Construction of the new section began in February. There was a fire at the Little Spain restaurant a few years ago in that area, so the idea had long been in the works to remodel that area.
I took a picture of where Pinkberry used to be. You can still get froyo at the Original Farmers Market at Bennett’s. Or if you walk over to the Grove, you can get froyo at Haagen Dazs and Pressed Freeze from Pressed Juicery.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* PINKBERRY FARMERS MARKET: 6333 W 3rd St. #126, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.
Fro-yo girl here. Way back in 2012, I reviewed Foxy’s Pash Premium Frozen Yogurt: http://froyogirl.blogspot.com/2012/09/foxys-pash-frozen-yogurt-review.html
Foxy’s Pash was positioned as a low calorie, low sugar, lowfat guilt free, all-natural, premium frozen yogurt. In reality, their product did not have a premium taste, but at least it did taste natural. I found several flavors to be bland and icy. My pints of Foxy’s sat in my freezer for awhile and I finally wound up throwing them out. I wasn’t eager to try anything by Foxy’s again.
At some point around 2014-2015, the founders of Foxy’s decided to rebrand and relaunch a new product, Foxy’s Thoughtful Ice Creams, in 2016. The new look was cleaner and more modern. The old look reminded me of 1950’s American teenagers). The new flavors and packaging emphasized the quality of ingredients they use. The new positioning was as a healthy, indulgent (not lowfat), ice cream with less sugar, probiotics, and prebiotics. Compared to a typical frozen yogurt, Foxy’s has higher fat and less sugar. Compared to ice cream, Foxy’s has no eggs, less sugar, prebiotics, and probiotics. In fact, it has at least 1 billion probiotics per serving.
I decided to try Foxy’s Thoughtful Ice Creams since I found them at Grocery Outlet at a deep discount, $2.49 a pint. According to the sign, they retail for $6.49 elsewhere. Grocery Outlet had three flavors: Rather Thoughtful Vanilla, Oregon Cherry Vanilla, and Uncle Mike’s Double Chocolate.
- Oregon Cherry Vanilla: When I took the lid off, I didn’t see any cherries. I did encounter cherry pieces later, but this flavor needs a cherry jam or more cherry flavor. It tastes like vanilla with a tiny hit of cherries. I didn’t miss the sugar because they also added agave inulin. It tasted as sweet as other ice creams. The texture seemed firmer and a bit icier, probably because it's egg-free. The flavor was mild and pleasant though the vanilla flavor wasn’t strong either. Foxy’s Thoughtful Ice Creams tastes better than Foxy’s Pash, though I’d still like more flavor.
One serving is ½ a cup, with 250 calories, 18g total fat, 10g sugars, and 3g protein.
Ingredients: Milk, cream, sugar (cane), nonfat milk powder, cherry halves (cherries, sugar), cherry pieces (cherries, sugar [cane]), cherry juice concentrate, natural flavor), vanilla extract, organic agave inulin, Xanthan gum, locust bean gum, guar gum, Probiotics: L. Acidophilus, L. Plantarum, L. Salivarius, L. Rhamnosus, B. Lactis, and B. Biffidum.
The available flavors are:
- Salted Caramel & English Toffee
- Uncle Mike’s Double Chocolate
- California Pistachio
- Oregon Cherry Vanilla
- Rocky Road Less Travelled
- Rather Thoughtful Vanilla
Foxy’s is mainly available on West Coast but can be purchased online for $8.99/each.
For stores, see: https://thoughtfulicecream.com/where-to-buy/
3.5 out of 5 stars.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.
Fro-yo girl here. I stumbled upon the Ice Cream Expo at the Ginza Mitsukoshi on my recent trip to Japan. The event was hosted by Japan Ice Cream Maniac Association. Over 100 kinds of ice cream from different regions in Japan were carefully selected by the association to be sold at the expo.
The Ice Cream Expo was held from 4/25 – 5/7/2018. It’s not the froyo expo, but I thought that they might have frozen yogurt. I asked the information booth, but alas, there was no frozen yogurt.
I’ll assume that the Ice Cream Expo represents what’s new in ice cream in Japan right now. Most of the signs were in Japanese, so I wasn’t sure what was being offered. The vendors, representing ice cream vendors throughout Japan, had booths on the 7th and 9th floor of Mitsukoshi.
What’s new?
- Manhattan Roll Ice Cream (@manhattanroll) has brought Thai ice cream rolls to Tokyo. You can find the shop near Harajuku Station.
- Cold Stone Creamery brought decorated popsicles to the expo.
- Tsujiri, the green tea specialist, was there with its retail café concept called Yuwa. The specialty is matcha green tea soft serve.
- Aki Group Farm is known for its veggie ice cream flavors like grilled eggplant, roasted sweet potato, and pumpkin. The roasted eggplant ice cream has won various food awards.
- The Warm Tech Spoon is a warm ice cream spoon that makes it easier and more pleasant to eat ice cream. It’s made not out of metal or wood but with a high tech material with very high thermal conductivity.
I also spotted ice cream mochi, shave ice, and ice cream encased in a wafer shell.
I wish I could have read the signs to understand more of what I saw! You can read more about some of the featured ice creams in this article in the Ginza Mitsukoshi News.
I didn't see Kanazawa Ice, the Japanese ice cream that doesn't melt for hours.
Also, I was able to try Milk Cream Craft in the Ginza Mitsukoshi food hall. Milk Craft Cream is the first shop in Japan to specialize in fresh cream products. The cream comes from Kushiro subprefecture in Hokkaido. I think this stall at Ginza Mitsukoshi was a pop-up, but they have shops elsewhere. The first one was in Shibuya in 2017. It’s been wildly popular, with 30,000 customers in the first month.
* Milky soft serve (500 yen, or $4.53): The soft serve comes on a plain cake cone. The cone was fresh and crispy but otherwise standard. The swirl looked different than the typical soft cream swirl because they didn’t use the end caps that go on the soft serve machine nozzles. Swirls look better when end caps are used. The portion looked smaller than the other soft cream cones I had in Japan. It did taste different from the other milk soft creams I had – the texture was smooth, thick and creamy but the flavor had a milkier/cream quality. It wasn’t too sweet and it had a lot of flavor for plain milk and cream.
According to the Milk Craft Cream website, they created the “ultimate blend ratio” after more than 100 prototypes that blended different cream and milk fat content.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.
Fro-yo girl here. There aren’t a lot of details yet, but I heard that Go Greek The Oaks Mall will open next week, on Tuesday, May 29. It’s on the second floor, the outdoor part, by Vans. Nothing official has been announced yet, so it’s probably a soft opening, with a grand opening to be announced later.
Go Greek will offer fresh Greek yogurt, self-serve Greek frozen yogurt, and Greek coffee.
Update: They had a soft opening and special sampling on May 26 from 2-5 PM.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* GO GREEK YOGURTERIA, 350 W Hillcrest Dr., Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.
Fro-yo girl here. I spotted new Lotte Pepero Double Dip Yogurt sticks (Pepero is the Korean version of Pocky) during a recent shopping trip to Loha’s Fresh Mart. It seems like the snack is relatively new. One box is 50g. Loha’s had Pepero Double Dip for $2.19 a box. There were two flavors: Yogurt and Café Latte. Pepero is imported from South Korea.
One box contains two servings in separate packets. A serving is one pack, 130 calories, 7g total fat, 11g sugars, 16g total carbohydrate, and 2g protein.
* Double Dip Yogurt Pepero: One dip is milk flavored and the second dip is yogurt flavored. The double dipping makes the coating twice as thick as your average Pocky/Pepero. The cookie part is similar to your typical Pocky/Pepero: crunchy, not very sweet, like a pretzel but not as crunchy. The dips are much sweeter than the biscuit cookie stick. The dips are sweet and creamy. The flavor was pretty good. The yogurt dip had a slightly tangy Yakult taste which wasn’t strong enough to be unpleasant (I don’t like Yakult). It did taste a little powdery but I still liked it. Did I like it better than regular Pocky or Pepero? No, but Double Dip Yogurt is a nice alternative to white chocolate.
Ingredients: Vegetable cream I (vegetable oil, sugar, mixed milk powder, lactose, dextrin, lecithin, Greek yogurt powder, citric acid, artificial yogurt flavor, paprika color), vegetable cream II (vegetable oil, sugar, mixed milk powder, lactose, dextrin, artificial milk flavor, artificial sweet flavor), wheat flour, sugar, palm oil, sweetened condensed milk, grain product (whole meal, non-glutinous rice, glutinous rice), liquid whole egg, processed whole milk powder (whey powder, butter oil, lactose, palm oil, milk cream, sodium caseinate, potassium phosphate dibasic, glycerin esters of fatty acides, artificial milk flavor), acidity regulator (ammonium bicarbonate, sodium phosphate (tribasic), sodium bicarbonate), malt extract, salt, fructose corn syrup, artificial flavor (perm bread flavor), vanilla flavor (vanilla extract, proptlene glycol, vanillin, decalactone), papain, yeast.
The list of ingredients is crazy long!
Fro-yo girl here. Menchie’s Van Nuys is having a grand opening celebration this weekend. On Saturday, May 19th, guests will enjoy free froyo all day. You can fill up the 6 oz cup with as much froyo and toppings as you'd like.
Free toys were given to the first 25 guests. I received a Menchie’s dodge ball. They’ll also giving out gift cards to contest winners – to enter, post a picture of your Menchie’s creation and use the hashtag, #menchiesvannuys on Instagram and/or Twitter. Face painting begins at 2 PM. I heard Menchie would be there but I didn’t see him.
On Sunday, May 20, the first 25 guests will get free toys and everyone will get a free waffle bowl with any purchase.
They also had a special, 2 prepacks for $10. This location has froyo cakes ($24.99) that can be customized. I received a coupon for $5 off a froyo cake.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* MENCHIE’S: 14523A Sherman Way, Van Nuys, CA
Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.
Fro-yo girl here. I spotted Clover Whole Milk Greek Yogurt at Sprouts. Their yogurt is organic and made with milk from Northern California dairies. The Greek yogurt is strained and the flavors are blended into it. This product was labeled as new by Sprouts. It retails for $2.19 and I found it on sale for $1.99. One cup is 5.3 oz.
* Vanilla bean: This was really good! I could see the vanilla bean specks throughout the yogurt. The sweetness was pleasant; it wasn’t overly sweet. It tasted fresh and natural. The texture was creamy and smooth. The full fat made it satisfying but not heavy. It's more mild than tangy.
Available flavors: Plain, Vanilla Bean, Blueberry, Honey, Raspberry
One serving has 150 calories, 4.5g total fat, 15g total carbohydrates, 13g total sugars and 11g protein. And it has live and active cultures.
Ingredients (vanilla bean): Cultured pasteurized organic whole milk, organic sugar, pectin, organic vanilla extrat, natural flavor, locust bean gum, organic lemon juice concentrate, organic vanilla beans.
5 out of 5 stars.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.
